


Father to Aphrodite's Son

by cannibal centipede (orphan_account)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Dark Apollo, Multi, Not Beta Read, OC-centric, Rated For Violence, Rating May Change, Tags May Change, Warnings May Change, and language, implied mature themes but not explicitly described, my first time with tags let me know if they're innacurate, rated multi for the bxb gxb and father-son behavior (not incest)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 02:04:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4858973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/cannibal%20centipede
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alistair, age sixteen, hooks up with a pretty college girl named Aphrodite. Nine months and a birthday later, he has a baby boy dumped on him out of the blue. Abandoning his full-ride scholarship to Binghamton, he starts supporting himself and his son while finishing up high school at night.<br/>
Seven years later, age twenty-three, Alistair is working odd jobs, fending off freaky monsters, and dealing with a curse laid on him by an angry father, all while putting his son Calix through elementary school. It's safe to say he isn't pleased when that "Aphrodite" girl shows up again, looking not a day older than when they first met, and sets into motion another series of events that is sure to screw up his life yet again.

((first post on ao3. please DO judge harshly, i'm striving to improve. irregular updates.))</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. ena meros

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! It's nice to greet you one-sidedly like this (*laughs*).  
>  This is my first time posting on Ao3, though I have posted fanfics elsewhere. However, I DO want your criticism. I'm looking to improve as a writer, and I can't do that if I'm not told what I'm doing wrong. I ask that you be polite when pointing out my errs (that's a word!) but don't worry, I'm a big girl, I can definitely handle it! Thank you for even bothering to read this annoying newbie-writer note! ((I've survived Ao3. I've conquered Fanfiction.net. I've mastered the use of Wattpad mobile app. RoyalRoaldL.com hasn't killed me yet. Japtem is slowly accepting me as one of its own. Now, if only I can figure out how to use Tumblr...))

**Father to Aphrodite's Son**  
 **Percy Jackson and the Olympians**  
 _ **—ena meros—**_  
✔️  
  
  
  
Having a kid when you're sixteen is one of the worst mistakes a guy could make. Or rather, having a one night stand with a pretty college girl, only to have her come dump a baby on you nine months later (one named Calix, at that) before taking off again, is one of the worst mistakes a guy could make. Trust me, I've learned from that experience. Seven years later, I still regret that decision.  
  
Not the birth of my son, of course, I'd never wish he didn't exist. But the _timing_ was crappy; I had to turn down my full-ride scholarship to Binghamton, get a part-time job, and go to night school just to finish grade twelve and get my diploma. Then I got a job at the sanitation department, because as terrible a job as it was, it paid really well for one that didn't require a college degree, and I needed money, fast. I could only stay dependent on my parents for so much longer before they lost patience and kicked me out.  
  
Once I was nineteen, old enough to be a legal guardian, had been driving for a few years, with enough experience as an adult, I moved out and rented a tiny apartment; think hotel-room-plus-kitchenette small. Calix was old enough to go to daycare, so even though I had to pay, I could also work around the clock and make enough money for it. Waiter, garbage man, tutor, I did it all, and then at night I took online university classes. I practically lived on coffee and Sunday mornings off.  
  
Until his seventh birthday, when everything changed.  
  
Calix's mother came back. And she didn't come bearing gifts; no, what she handed over were burdens I'd have to carry for the rest of my puny mortal life.  
  
Aw, hell.


	2. dyo meros

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading!

**Father to Aphrodite's Son**  
 **Percy Jackson and the Olympians**  
 _ **—dyo meros—**_  
✔️  
  
  
  
So, this is pretty much how it all went down:

 

She was standing at my front door, a woman so gorgeous words couldn't do her beauty justice. She hadn't aged a day since I last saw her, but I've seen crazier things in these seven years. "Hey... handsome." She put a hand on my chest at that point. Notice the hesitation? She didn't even remember my name. God knows how she found me, after all these years.

"Hello. Long time no see, Aphrodite. Is there something you need?" Note my cool tone as I blocked the doorframe and brushed off her hand. Like hell was I letting her back into my life without a good reason. And if she had one, she could tell me from out there.

"Yes, well— how is Calix? Is he doing alright?" She tried to peer past me into the house, obviously thrown by my reaction, or lack thereof, to her attempt at seduction. _Ha, take that. Payback for all the times your weird boyfriend with the shades harassed me back at my parents' house._  
  
"Calix is great, absolutely fantastic. He's been fine these seven years without you, after all, and speaking as the father who's taken care of him his entire life, I think he can survive another day. Seeing how you've never bothered to visit." Not like that sounded bitter, or anything. When I saw her face crumple, I felt a sort of vindictive satisfaction.  
  
"That's good, I'm glad to hear he's doing okay. I take it you don't want to let me see him. But if I could come inside for a moment, I have something of vital importance to speak with you about." Uneasy, then. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled thinly at me as manicured fingernails tapped against her jacket, giving me the impression that it was urgent. I suddenly felt the urge to turn tail and flee.  
  
"I'd rather we speak out here, thanks." If she came in, Calix might come out and see her. As it was, I blocked her from view inside the house. I couldn't help but feel in my bones that if we had this conversation, everything would change, and not for the better. This woman gave off a thick scent of danger that I knew all too well.  
  
"...We can't. They'll hear us. Quickly, they won't stay away for long." She pushed past me and shut the door behind her, but she looked so harried I let it go. She was chewing on her lip so hard I pitied it. She seemed... desperate. Like my home was the only safe haven she knew. It gave me the chills.  
  
I exhaled and pointed to the couch. "Sit down here, don't leave this room, don't touch _anything._ I'll be _right back_." I left to put Calix in my room with a book and lock him in. No telling what was going to go down. I'd rather have him stay out of it.   
  
I went to the linen closet and slid a panel away in the back, revealing a compartment from which I grabbed two handguns; one was plain black, but the other was a dangerous, glistening silver. Those I stuffed into the waistband of my pants where they'd be hidden. I had a bad feeling, and my gut feelings were usually right.  
  
I reentered the room, boots clunking on the floor. "Okay, now spill. Whatever it is, it must be bad to get _you_ nervous, and I sure as hell don't want to deal with it. Is it life or death?" I was tense, not even bothering to sit down. She was still standing as well, fidgeting with the pink scarf wound around her neck.  
  
"It's _extremely_ dangerous. If you don't do exactly as I say, both you and Calix will perish, and that's not a threat, but a warning of what's to come. I'm not even supposed to be here, I'll be in so much trouble if anyone finds out I visited." Her face had hardened. She was still playing with her scarf, but her shoulders were squared. She was all business, even anticipating my fury at her calm prediction of my son's death.  
  
I nodded resolutely. "If it's for my son, I'll protect him with my life. Do we have to leave the house?" My hand went to the black gun subtly. I hadn't had to use it in almost a year, but my body remembered.  
  
"Yes. Go get Calix and the things you can't live without, but pack light. We leave five minutes ago. If you take too long I'm getting Calix and leaving." She wasn't hesitating anymore. It was do-or-die time. We may not have gotten on well, but one thing we silently agreed upon was Calix's safety.  
  
I bolted. I was already packed for this sort of emergency, just grabbed my wallet and keys off the table and took a half-full rucksack out of the closet. Then I had to explain things to Calix. So I started with kneeling in front of him, a posture I took whenever I had bad news to break. "Buddy, can you get your shoes and grab your blanket and a favorite toy or two, lightspeed? My old friend is here so all three of us are gonna go on a trip together. Sorry about the short notice. Can you do that for me?"  
  
Calix was a smart boy. He knew something was off. But he nodded silently, kissed my cheek, and ran off to do as he was told.  
  
I went past Aphrodite to grab two water bottles from the kitchen and a couple granola bars, stuffing them in my bag. She followed me in, fingers tap-tap-tapping. "Please, Al, hurry up. _Please_." So she did remember my name, or at least part of it.  
  
"We're waiting on Calix now. He's a big boy, he knows what to do. This isn't the first time we've had to get out in a panic because something came after him." I banged the cupboards shut as Calix came trotting into the front room on silent feet, a backpack over his shoulders. "Let's go, we don't have time for dallying, this one's a doozy." I scooped him up in my arms and went for the fire escape. "Hold on, buddy, we're going up and over."  
  
Aphrodite practically hovered over us. "You can't _possibly_ be thinking of taking him down that way, it's four floors up and it rained this morning."  
  
I gave her a cheeky wink as I swung over, Calix's arms in a death grip around my neck. "If we fall, I'll break his. Don't worry so much 'Dite, you'll get wrinkles." No doubt she'd look pretty anyway, but it was infuriating her that I was after.  
  
I climbed down one level as quickly as I could, focusing on not slipping. When I looked, she was already standing on the next platform down. "Don't call me that!"  
  
I kept moving, hearing an ominous screech in the distance. None of the passerby looked around, so I figured it wasn't something they could see. Of course. "I'll call you what I want to. Anyway, most of these monsters go by the front door, they're all about proper entrances and fear factor and all that, right sadistic things they are. This way buys us time."  
  
Calix was staring at me; I could feel his massive, quiet eyes boring into me.  
  
"Yeah, bud?"  
  
"Daddy, is it the vampire ladies again?"  
  
"It doesn't sound like it."  
  
"The bull men?"  
  
"It's more of a screech than a roar, don't you think?"  
  
"The demon math teachers?"  
  
I let out a heavy puff of air. "With our luck, probably. Maybe it's the snake-haired sisters like your fourth birthday."  
  
Aphrodite was staring at me too. "You mean you can see them?"  
  
"Yeah, ever since Calix turned one. There was this terrible accident and then I could see _all_ of it. Creepy, yeah? Gave me a right start. We've had to move around and evade these things for six years now. Dunno what they are, but they're—"  
  
"Not cool, man!" Calix chimed in with a grin. "Right, little dude?" Quoting _Finding Nemo_ again, huh. I taught him well.  
  
"Perfect timing, Cal, that was a good one." I dropped to the ground and set my son on his feet.   
  
"Now what are you planning to do?" Aphrodite asked. I didn't question how she got down so fast.  
  
"Now, we catch a cab." I fished a funny-looking gold coin out of my pocket and did my best impression of a taxicab whistle, but hey, I'm not from the city. Life on Long Island isn't like that. Then I flipped the coin and did my best impression of a chant I had heard a couple years ago. I couldn't remember it exactly, but then Calix piped up and spoke it perfectly. Weird, but not as weird as what happened next.  
  
A rundown yellow taxicab sped up out of nowhere and screeched to a halt in front of us, a bony hand reaching out the driver's window and snatching the coin out of the air. "Where ya going?" a skeletal old man asked us, tucking the gold coin into his breast pocket. When he turned his head, I saw he literally had a skull for a head with just a chattering jaw and demonic black eyeballs.  
  
"Camp Half-Blood," Aphrodite answered him as I pulled Calix into the cab with me as fast as I could, tossing a few more gold coins and shutting the back door for us. "Passage for a demigod and his ungodly parent. Step on it."  
  
"Wait, 'Dite," I attempted, but we were already squealing away at speeds no mortal cabbie would be able to imitate, leaving the mother of my son standing at the curb with a wistful smile on her face as a massive shadow overcame her from the back and she disappeared from our view, possibly forever.

 

Of course, our tale doesn't end here, but I think I'll take a break. All this storytelling makes me thirsty. You go ahead and take five too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting what i have for this all at once. this way, i will definitely feel obligated to continue. i'll try not to let this fic get abandoned like its many, many brothers and sisters.


	3. trito meros

**Father to Aphrodite's Son**  
 **Percy Jackson and the Olympians**  
 _ **—trito meros—**_  
✔️  
  
  
I'm back. Did you miss me? Wow, don't hurt yourself with the enthusiasm there. Okay, okay, I'll stop stalling and get back to our tale now.  
  
  
The cab was going so fast the surroundings blurred. We didn't even have time to buckle up, but I held onto Calix tight. Like hell I was going to let my boy die because of a skeleton's reckless driving. He was looking a little green around the gills though, I'd forgotten about his motion sickness.  
  
Luckily, we were only in the taxi for about four minutes. The longest four minutes of my life, but I had nothing but praise for the driver. When Aphrodite said to step on it, he certainly didn't fail to deliver.  
  
When the vehicle screeched to a halt, the door opened itself and we scrambled out. The yellow car slammed its door shut again and took off the moment we were out. No need to tip, then, excellent.  
  
I took one glance back at the monster(s?) following us and covered Calix's ears. "Oh, _shit._ I'm so fucked." Because Calix was _gonna_ make it to safety, whether he wanted to or not... but there was no guarantee we'd share a fate. If I died there, well, I guessed I'd just have to come back and protect my son as a shade.  
  
He pried my hands off his ears, but I was already shucking off my backpack. "Run, Calix. See the tree on top of the hill?" We were at the foot of a rolling green slope, near a forest with trees scattered all around. At the highest point was the largest pine tree I had ever seen in my life with something sparkling in its branches, but if my instincts were right, he'd be safe beyond that spot. I pointed at the tree, glancing back once in a while nervously. "Run for it. Don't stop, no matter what you see or hear. You understand? Get past that tree. Go, _now!_ " I gave him a shove uphill.  
  
He looked back at me fearfully. "Daddy?"  
  
I had already thrown my bag with all my strength at the hill. Somehow, it had managed to land just beyond the tree, despite how far away it was. I chalked it up to magic and didn't question it further. "Didn't you hear me Calix? _I SAID RUN, KID!_ "  
  
Calix went pale, turned on his heel, and sprinted. Good. He knew better than to disobey me when I called him kid; it was always when there was a danger bigger than he could handle, and he would only endanger both of us by sticking around.  
  
Really, it was just when I thought only one of us would make it out alive for sure, but he didn't have to know that. Sheer dumb luck had gotten us this far. My gut was telling me things wouldn't go so smoothly this time around.  
  
Facing the two creatures steadily approaching me, I knew for certain this time I didn't stand a chance. Nevertheless, I drew my black gun, aimed, and fired three times in succession.  
  
My first bullet bounced off the Lamia's scales, leaving an insignificant dent that the snake lady seemed royally pissed at, if her vicious hissing and renewed speed were anything to judge by. The second grazed the flank of a Hippalectryon, which stomped its rear hooves angrily and let out a strangled rooster cry. The third missed entirely, due to how my hands shook, embedding itself in the trunk of a tree nearby.  
  
I cursed under my breath and backed up the incline quickly, steadying my hands and shooting again. This time my aim was much better, and I managed to hit the Lamia's wrist, then her elbow. "Hey there," I managed to shout at her. "Need a shirt, lady? They sell 'em real cheap at Walmart these days, you should invest in a couple." Lane, I know, but apparently effective, and completely true. Lesser men would've been completely distracted, but not me,  _mwahaha!_  When you lose your virginity to a lady like Aphrodite, no one else can really meet your standards. I spared a glance back at Calix; he was only halfway up the hill. Good progress for a seven year old, but not good enough.  
  
The Lamia lunged at me, taloned hands outstretched and snake fangs bared. I waited 'til the last second, then leapt sideways, hopefully out of range. Nope, wait, she had a long snake tail for a lower body, which promptly wound around my ankle and threw me into the air like a rag doll.  
  
It was not fun, I assure you.  
  
When I came crashing back down through the trees, she batted me out of the air with her tail like this was the MLB, she was the batter, and I the unfortunate ball. I felt myself smash into a tree, knocking the wind clear out of my lungs, and my ribs made an obnoxious cracking noise that I _knew_ was not a good sign. Or maybe it was my sternum that broke. Or my spine. All I knew as I slid down the tree was my chest exploding in pain and the Lamia hissing out a laugh at me, the Hippalectryon content to lean back on its horse haunches and watch the show for a moment before it saw Calix struggling to reach the pine tree and it straightened up once more.  
  
That was when I knew I couldn't fuck around anymore. _Pain, pain, fly away and all that, I don't have the **time**_. My brain was shutting down everything unnecessary, like pain and fear, to make room for the instincts surfacing.  
  
 _Save offspring. Survive. Let my bloodline continue. Live._  
  
The most primitive urges a human has are survival and reproduction. Live longer and create descendants to carry one's blood into the future. And these monsters had triggered mine far more intensely and deeply than any other creature ever had. I'd like to have called it paternal love, but it was just pure carnal instinct.  
  
And boy, did it do the trick. I stood again, the sick cracking noises instantly gaining the Lamia's attention. The rooster horse had paused too, stuck between dealing with the armed mortal that wouldn't stay down or the delicious demigod that was almost safe. He went for the free meal.  
  
 _Not on my watch_.  
  
I pulled my silver gun and shot it with one hand, twice, at the Hippalectryon, keeping my eyes on the Lamia. I heard a pain-filled rooster roar and knew I'd hit my target, somewhat. I kept my black gun trained on the Lamia, even if it wouldn't do much good with all the scales on her body. I had to aim for her weak point, or I'd just waste my hard-to-come-by bullets. When I sensed motion out of the corner of my eye, I shot off another round at the hippo-whatever, steadily backing up the hill. A glance showed me that I had disabled the back leg of the mythical beast and hit its wing twice, but not much else.  
  
So, I wasn't a great shot, bite me. I was pretty damn good, for a mortal, and I liked to think that counted for something. Besides, guns supplied the power I couldn't get with manual weapons and they allowed me the range that came with archery, without the ridiculous strength requirement needed to pierce monster skulls with arrows.  
  
When I looked back to check on Calix— he was almost there, so, _so_ close!— the Lamia struck again. Her tail shot forwards, stiffened like a spear, and she drove it clear through my right kidney and a few other important organs. Then, with me still impaled, she shook her tail a few times to get me off like a crushed bug off the bottom of her shoe. Could she even wear shoes? Off topic.  
  
Anyway, I flew for the second time in as many minutes. Straight up the hill, past the Hippalectryon and Calix, crashing right into a magical barrier that hurt just as much as being thrown into a cinderblock wall (sadly, I know from experience). Thankfully, my brain still had the whole ' _pain_ ' thing on lockdown, so I was mostly really numb and pissed off. I heard a funny skidding noise as I slid down the invisible dome; under any other circumstance I would have laughed, but that chicken-horse was getting _way_ too close to my son!  
  
What else was there to do but charge stupidly and shoot at its head until my right arm was ripped free of my shoulder?  
  
 _Wait. Back up_.  
  
 _Holy shit that's my arm she's eating!_  
  
Yep, the Lamia was chowing down on the arm she just severed from my body. My black gun, out of ammo anyway, lay on the ground.  
  
Calix screamed. Of course he would, the poor thing was seven years old. He'd seen me injured before, but not to this extent. And who in their right mind wouldn't be terrified by their only parental figure being torn limb from limb before their eyes?  
  
"CALIX RUN!" I roared, exhausted. The blood loss was getting to me, duh; there was a hole in my intestines (etc) that I could stick my arm in one side and have it come out the other and blood was absolutely gushing out of my ripped shoulder. It wasn't even a clean cut, dammit. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GET PAST THE TREE AND YOU'RE SAFE! THEN GET HELP!"  
  
"But Dad—!"  
  
I shot at the Hippalectryon's head again, ignoring the Lamia as long as she was feasting. Thank the powers that be for magic guns that never run out of ammunition. "Go. Get. Help. **_Now!_** "  
  
He ran again, this time making it safely past the border. I saw it shimmer blue when the rooster thing slammed against it, screeching angrily at its lost prey. Delicious demigod option had just been taken off the table.   
  
Mortal Meal it was, then. Lady Lamia had already gotten a taste-test.  
  
When it charged, I wasn't stupid enough to dodge sideways this time. I jumped, landing on its head somehow; it didn't like that, used a nasty talon to cut off what little of my left leg he could reach, which consisted of everything below the knee. I was all wobbly and faint; when the pain hit, I'd probably die from that alone, and my sense of balance was shattered by now.  
  
I tumbled down a feathered back and managed to grab a handful and hang on, using what was left of my body (namely my teeth) to hang on while I pressed the muzzle of my gun to the back of its head and let off six rounds. From my higher perch, before the Hippalectryon disintegrated, I could see a half dozen or so kids, mostly tweens, charging up the hill's other side with armor, weapons, and matching t-shirts, an unarmed one carrying Calix in her arms like a child. My son was a blubbering, crying mess, but I was happy to see he had nothing more than the occasional light scratch or bruise.  
  
Then I fell to the ground face-first, my body as drained of energy as it was of blood. I barely managed to roll on my side and point the silver gun at Lady Lamia who hadn't left much of my arm uneaten, apart from bones and some tendons. Having run out of readily available food, she slithered closer on her one thick tail, which from my experience was nearly invulnerable and came to a deadly point.  
  
I put my gun in my mouth to toss her my severed leg lying a foot away from me, buying me a few minutes as I held my gun again. _I don't know the weak points of a Lamia though, how do I defeat her? Do I really die here, after all this shit? Do I leave Calix alone, just like this?_

* * *

That's when the preteen patrol reaches me, crossing the border and attacking the Lamia while she's busy gnawing on my calf muscle. Two of them in their hideous orange shirts kneel next to me, while a third holding Calix stands just inside the magical barrier. I think. Maybe she took him back down, everything is going kind of dark.

"Quick, nectar," Kid 1 says to Kid 2. "I'll try to stop the bleeding."  
  
I stop Kid 2 by curling my fist into his shirt and pulling his face close to mine. "No," I manage to rasp, feeling blood dribble down my chin. My ribs must've punctured a lung or two or three— _how many lungs do I have, again?_ — without me realizing. "Mortal." I really don't want to start burning up too, not while I'm in this state.  
  
Kid 2's face goes white and he instantly relays the info to Kid 1, who looks just as terrified. " _Di immortales,_ what do we do?" _Uh-oh. Not a good sign._  
  
Kid 1 answers with, "I only know basic healing!"  
  
Kid 2 yells at the group of kids who just dispatched the Lamia without nearly as much effort as I expended. "Help, quick, guys! He's a mortal! Someone go get Will, _now!_ " Kid 4, who looks like their fastest runner, bolts, shucking off her armor as she goes. Kids 5 and 6 come up and begin finding things to staunch my wounds with, ripping up their shirts. They all seem to be well-versed in basic first-aid.  
  
I slowly release Kid 2's shirt. "Leave." It hurts to talk. The pain is coming back slowly, but I feel like I'm in shock from blood loss, so it's not as bad as it should be. "Heal... m'self." I will, in time. I've healed from worse. Regenerated would be a better word, actually.  
  
They ignore me, so I raise my voice. "Sto..." It doesn't really work. Instead I reach out blindly, my eyesight failing me, and grab someone's arm. "My son?" I whisper with my breath rattling in my chest. "Safe?" I have to make sure, have to verify that I haven't disillusioned myself as to his safety, that I'm not being delusional and Calix is lying dead a few feet away. "Calix?" There's no point in living if Calix is dead.  
  
Kid 6, I think, puts a hand on my forehead as more blood dribbles from my mouth, and a bit from my nose. "The boy is safe. We'll take care of him."  
  
I close my eyes and relax, letting my hand slip from whoever's arm. "Good, goo..." I feel my voice give out. My chest is still rising and falling, and even though my eyes are no use, I can hear okay still. More footsteps are thundering up the hill.  
  
"Will!" Kid 1 says in relief. "It's a mortal, we don't know what to do—"  
  
"How'd he get to this state?" Will, I presume, drops to his knees next to me. "Did no one come to his aid? And he's _mortal?_ " I feel pressure on my shoulder and the wound on my leg as he murmurs instructions to the other kids.  
  
"Dunno," Kid 5 says quietly. "There was monster dust already there so he must've killed at least one while protecting the kid. Dunno where he got the right weapons either."  
  
"Dunno, dunno, dunno," Will mocks angrily. "We have to get him to the infirmary, clean him up. It'll get infected."  
  
At the idea of being moved, my eyes snap open and my left hand grabs Will's wrist tightly. "No," I croak forcefully. My eyesight is coming back; I can see blonde hair, blonde hair everywhere, and in between there's dark green and sky blue. "Leave me."  
  
Will jumps. "Holy... I thought you passed out! Whatever you do, don't fall asleep." He presses down on the wound in my abdomen and I hiss pathetically. "Sorry."  
  
I muster up a sort of grunt and let him go. "Almost did." Breathing is getting easier. Willpower and energy is returning, and with it a whole lot of pain. "Don't touch." I sweep his hands away from the gaping hole in my torso with as much strength as I can gather so far.  
  
I can tell he's gaping at me. My eyesight is sharpening with every passing moment. "...I can see _through you!_ "  
  
"I'm _aware_." Deep breath, ribs cracking and realigning. "It'll all heal up if you stop touching me, kid," I say, finally getting out a whole sentence at normal volume. Then, reaching up and pulling on Kid 2's shoulder, I yank myself to a sitting position, shaking their hands away.  
  
Once the physical contact is gone, my curse speeds up grotesquely. My skin and flesh crawling, the bones of my arm a distance away rattling, and immense, soul-crushing pain. It's all familiar by now. So all I do is breathe as evenly as I can when the bones of my arm shoot towards me at high speeds and snap back into the socket with a painful sound, chittering as tendons regrow and muscles develop again. It takes a minute or two, in which the hole in my gut has all but sealed up and my leg is now whole again, my chest having healed first, but I can clench my hand into a fist despite the lack of skin in places. It'll grow back, it always does, like the skin over my abdomen will.  
  
Then I simply roll out my neck with a few cracks and stand up, ignoring the horrified kids whom I should be thanking for their concern, but my main priority is Calix, who is on the other side of the barrier I can't pass. Therefore I turn back to them and crouch in front of a stupefied Will, holding out my hand for a handshake. "Hello, it's nice to meet you, I'm Alistair, father of Calix. I would really like to see my son now, so would it be possible for you kids to let me through this barrier?"  
  
Ah, I how love dumbstruck expressions.  
  
"Uh, ah—" Will seems to be struggling for words. "What are you?"  
  
My smile slips slightly. "Oh, that. Well, you see I'm cursed." I tilt my head and turn up my smile once more, closing my eyes. "You don't mind, do you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is all i have so far. i'll post again when i have the time/when the next chapter is ready.  
> 
> 
> i know Alistair seems to know too much for a mortal, but he's just good at reading between the lines. he doesn't actually _know_ anything, it's all just inferences and figures of speech. also, i'm aware he talks like he's going to die all the time, even though he knows he's cursed and regenerates, but he has a mortal mind (a weird one, but mortal nonetheless) and he's not sure what the curse is, only what it does to him; again, he doesn't actually know _anything_. it's all guesswork, overconfidence, and bullsh'tting his way through things.

**Author's Note:**

> chapters will get longer, i promise. this is more of a " _miden meros_ " or a " _perilipsi_ " than an " _ena meros_ ". also, finally learning how to html (kinda)! it's all because of you, ao3. just don't let it go to your head.


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